Kyle Orton Would Owe The Cowboys $3M If He Retired

Cowboys VP Stephen Jones mentioned during a Monday interview with 105.3 Dallas-Fort Worth that he expects veteran QB Kyle Orton to attend the team’s mandatory practices, despite the fact that he has yet to report to the team.

“I have not talked to him, but I know Jason (Garrett) and our coaches have,” Jones said, via ESPN Dallas. “That’s just a situation that we’ll work through. We expect Kyle, when mandatory practice starts and mandatory things begin, we fully expect Kyle to be there.”

If Orton were to attend offseason workouts, he would make $75,000. More interesting that than is the fact that Orton would owe the Cowboys $3 million if he retires, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Dallas signed Orton to a five-year contract that included a $5 million signing bonus, so if he made the decision to call it a career, Orton would owe a large portion of that to the Cowboys.

It’s also worth noting that Orton has a $3.25 million salary for the 2014 season, so he clearly has a lot to lose if he were to retire.

The Cowboys have maintained all along that they expect to have him back in time for offseason workouts, even though they appeared to have hedged the situation by signing guys like Brandon Weededn and Caleb Hanie this offseason.

Last year, Orton stepped in for Tony Romo after he suffered a season-ending back injury towards the end of the regular season and three for 358 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in a loss to the Eagles.